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March 3- Ben Carson, a retired surgeon popular with Tea Party conservatives, has formally created an exploratory committee to run for president, according to his campaign chief executive, Terry Giles, the Wall Street Journal reported. Carson, a former neurosurgeon at Maryland- based Johns Hopkins University, has no prior political experience.

IOWA CITY, Iowa— Taser International, the stun-gun maker emerging as a leading supplier of body cameras for police, has cultivated financial ties to police chiefs whose departments have bought the recording devices, raising a host of conflict-of-interest questions. Taser is planning to send two of them to speak at luxury hotels in Australia and the United Arab...

DAVENPORT, Iowa— Davenport's failure to release records related to a now-abandoned plan to buy a casino is "excusable" because the city couldn't get them from an uncooperative contractor, a judge has ruled. Deloitte& Touche LLP refused to give the city its internal documents related to its investigation of the casino purchase, despite requests from Mayor Bill...

Just 24 percent of those polled said Congress should be allowed to have detailed oversight of the Fed, the poll shows. Fed Chair Janet Yellen came under pressure from conservatives in Congress this week, with some accusing her of bias towards Democrats. "There ought to be some review but I don't know that a full public disclosure of every comment attributed to...

NEW YORK, March 1- Greg Abel, the 52- year-old head of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is not unlike the company he oversees: like utilities themselves, he is reliable, hard-working- and usually in the background. Those traits could serve him well should he indeed succeed the iconic Buffett, who has headed the sprawling Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate for 50 years.

The 357-60 roll call Friday by which the House approved a bill to fund the Homeland Security Department for one week. The bill goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Republicans— Aderholt, X; Brooks, N; Byrne, Y; Palmer, N; Roby, Y; Rogers, Y.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Feb 26- Canadian farmers are plowing profits from bumper crops into fertilizer storage facilities to mitigate the pricing power held by major retailers and producers. Over time, the practice might erode the steep premiums farmers pay in the spring to retail businesses owned by Agrium Inc, Richardson International and Cargill Ltd, while...

AMES, Iowa _ NewLink Genetics Corp. on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $126.9 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 78 cents per share. Analysts expected $3.9 million, according to Zacks.

DUBUQUE, Iowa— Railroad and state officials said they're still dealing with the aftermath of a freight train that derailed about three weeks ago and spilled ethanol into the Mississippi River north of Dubuque. Kevin Baskins a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, told the Telegraph Herald on Monday that 55,000 gallons of ethanol remain...

Carfax, a company that sells vehicle history reports to dealers and car buyers, searched recalls and state registration databases and found that more than 46 million cars are on U.S. roads with recalled parts that have yet to be repaired. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of cars with unfixed recalls in 2014:. Source: Study of 2014 state registration data by...

"That's the stick we'll use to measure every candidate," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. As an example, he cited the success of Wisconsin Gov. Walker survived a subsequent recall attempt and then won re-election, and lawmakers in Wisconsin are now pushing to pass right-to-work legislation that would limit the organizing power of private-sector unions.

*Senate committee expected to call hearing on bill- sources. A similar Fed audit bill passed the House of Representatives late last year and a hearing on Fed transparency is expected to be formally called by the Senate banking committee, according to people familiar with the matter. "We feel the current system works well, it's time-tested, and there are all kinds of...

CHICAGO, Feb 23- Across the U.S. Many rent payments- which vary from a few thousand dollars for a tiny farm to millions for a major operation- are due on March 1, just weeks after the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated net farm income, which peaked at $129 billion in 2013, could slide by almost a third this year to $74 billion. In Iowa, the nation's top corn and soybean...

MADRID, Iowa— Buying two goats in August 2008 was little more than an experiment for farmer Paula Olson and some entertainment for her daughters. In Iowa, the number of goat farms has climbed from less than 20 a decade ago to about 200, behind only Wisconsin and California. "It's not like the cow world," said Larry Hedrich, owner of LaClare Family Farm in Chilton,...

But Minnesota gambling laws have stalled his vision for a bigger tournament. "I think to me it's one of the toughest games to play," the 57- year-old Alexandria man said. " Along with other games such as pinochle, gin and Texas Hold' em, Minnesota residents risk committing a crime if their whist prize pool exceeds $200.

WASHINGTON— Pay little attention to the official agenda for this weekend's meeting of the National Governors Association. And for none is the scrutiny more heightened than for New Jersey Gov. Christie aides, making the rounds in a luxury Washington hotel on Friday, sought to project a sense of calm in the face of news that some longtime backers, both in New Jersey...

LAS VEGAS— New York- based New Media Investment Group Inc. says it has reached an agreement to purchase the company that owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal and daily newspapers in six other states. New Media President and CEO Michael E. Reed said in a statement Thursday they will purchase "substantially all of the assets" of Stephens Media LLC for $102.5 million...

*USDA cattle, storage reports on Friday. Thursday morning's average market-ready or cash hog price in Iowa/ Minnesota was up 52 cents per hundredweight from Wednesday to $57.71, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Separate USDA data showed the morning's wholesale pork price had risen 39 cents per cwt from Wednesday to $72.83.

DES MOINES, Iowa— A plan to increase the state fuel tax by 10 cents a gallon gained momentum in the Iowa Legislature Thursday, after the House Republican leader made some key membership changes to a committee to help ensure the legislation passed a procedural hurdle. House Speaker Kraig Paulsen replaced one member of the House Ways and Means Committee, bringing...